


Protect

by emdaro



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-29 20:01:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12092364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emdaro/pseuds/emdaro
Summary: “Race, your boyfriend’s here!” Specs hollered from the windowsill. “Looks real beat up too.”Race got to his feet, a frown on his face. He left the card game he was playing with some of the other boys and walked to the front door, opening it just as Spot was about to walk in. “What the hell happened?”Spot winced slightly. “I…uh…got in a fight.” He mumbled.





	Protect

Race needed to stop being surprised when Spot showed up with black eyes and bruises.

It happened far too often for him to react as strongly as he did. The leader of the Brooklyn newsies was always getting into fights with people, usually older kids who tried to pick on the Brooklyn newsies. So when Spot showed up to the Manhattan lodging house, sporting a black eye and bloody nose, Race shouldn’t have been as shocked as he was.

“Race, your boyfriend’s here!” Specs hollered from the windowsill. “Looks real beat up too.”

Race got to his feet, a frown on his face. He left the card game he was playing with some of the other boys and walked to the front door, opening it just as Spot was about to walk in. “What the hell happened?”

Spot winced slightly. “I…uh…got in a fight.” He mumbled.   
Race rolled his eyes. “No, really? Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” He tugged Spot into the lodging house and led him to the washroom, ignoring the jeers and shouts from the other boys. He shut the door behind them and made Spot sit down then turned to find a cloth to clean the blood off. He rolled his eyes again as Spot’s arm wrapped around his waist, resting his head against Race’s side. “Spot, you gotta let go so I can help ya.”

“No.” Spot responded, holding Race closer.

Race brought a hand up and stroked Spot’s hair gently. He let Spot hold him there for a few moments, before gently extracting himself. He found a cloth and wet it down, careful dabbing the blood away from Spot’s nose. “You gonna tell me what happened?”

Spot shrugged. “Nothin’. Just some idiots. I took care of it.”

“What were the idiots doin’?” Race asked patiently, pulling the cloth away. Spot’s nose didn’t look broken, just a little bruised. He gently pressed the cloth against his eye, hoping the cool water would alleviate some of the pain.

“They…uh…they was sayin’ stuff.” Spot replied, looking down.

Race pulled the cloth away and rested his hands on Spot’s shoulders. “What kind of stuff?”

Spot shrugged and got to his feet. “Wanna go for a walk?”

Race bit his lip, then nodded. He didn’t like that Spot wasn’t telling him something but he knew he couldn’t push it. He would tell Race, in his own time. He slipped his hand into Spot’s as they walked out of the lodging house, squeezing it gently. It was silent for a few minutes, until Race couldn’t take it anymore. “What the hell happened, Spot?”

Spot sighed. “Alright, don’t get mad.”

“Great start.” Race replied, but shifted slightly closer to Spot. They got to the park and Spot tugged him in, both of them sitting down on the grass. “Come on, talk.”

Spot sighed and laid back on the grass, staring up at the night sky. “It was about you, alright? Those stupid Delancey brothers saw me walkin’ here. They started sayin’ shit, about Crutchie first and then Jack. I was angry but I just walked away. They followed me. Started talkin’ about you. Callin’ you a fairy and shit, then they started sayin’…horrible things they’d do to you, if they ever caught ya alone.”

A cold shiver ran down Race’s spine. The Delanceys weren’t just assholes, they had turned into two of the creepiest guys Race had ever met. They had tried to go after Sarah, Davey’s sister one time. Another time, Oscar had cornered Crutchie in an alley one day and when Jack found out Oscar showed up the next day limping with a black eye and busted lip.

“I turned around and punched one of them. They got a few hits in, but they went runnin’ with their tails between their legs.” Spot continued.

Race bit his lip, unsure of how to feel. He didn’t want Spot to get into fights about him, but…it was kind of sweet. He laid back and rested his head against Spot’s chest. “You don’t need to protect me.”

Spot wrapped his arm around Race, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “Yeah, I know. But that don’t mean I’m not gonna. You’s my boyfriend, after all.”

Race tried not to smile. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Spot nodded and leaned down to kiss Race.

Race kissed back, careful not to bump his nose. He pulled back after a few moments and laughed as Spot kissed his neck. “Spot…”

Spot looked up, smiling. “Yeah?”

“We’s in public. Come on, we can’t be doin’ that.” Race let out a soft gasp as Spot bit down on his neck gently, sucking a hickey there. “Shit…”

A few hours later, the two of them returned to the lodging house with rumpled clothes and grass in their hair. Race didn’t care though. He had to thank Spot properly, after all, for standing up for him so bravely.


End file.
